By Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini
ROME, April 14 (Reuters) – Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday her government had suspended a defence cooperation deal with Israel, reflecting frayed ties between previously close allies as the conflicts in the Middle East continue.
Meloni’s right-wing government has been one of Israel’s closest friends in Europe, but in recent weeks it has criticised its attacks on Lebanon, which have killed hundreds and injured thousands.
Israel also fired warning shots last week at Italian troops serving in Lebanon under a U.N. mandate, causing damage to a vehicle.
“In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel,” Meloni said during a visit to Verona, northern Italy.
A source close to the matter, who requested anonymity, said Meloni took the decision on Monday with her foreign and defence ministers, Antonio Tajani and Guido Crosetto, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
A spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
OPPOSITION HAD CALLED FOR THE SUSPENSION
Meloni’s announcement was a surprise in that it marked a shift from a previously cautious stance on Israel. The opposition had asked the government to suspend the agreement.
“We had been calling for this for some time, along with other progressive forces,” the leader of the centre-left Democratic Party Elly Schlein said, adding Italy should also support the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Italy’s memorandum with Israel, signed in 2003 by the government of then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, entered into force in 2006 and is subject to automatic renewals every five years unless one of the parties withdraws.
It foresees Israeli-Italian cooperation to “increase their respective defence capabilities” and spans fields including procurement, training and the “import, export and transit of defence and military equipment”.
As diplomatic tensions have risen, Rome last week summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest over the incident involving Italian troops in Lebanon, then on Monday, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned the Italian ambassador “to discuss the situation in Lebanon”.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini; additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Nayera Abdallah; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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